Horror fllms and HVX worry not.

H

holditnowfilms

Well-known member
You cheeky rascals closed down the noise thread before I got this posted. I plan to shoot a horror film in April. I just finished my first round of Creepy night footage.

Based on this I am no longer too worried about shooting the movie with this camera.

I know some posters expressed some concern over doing a horror film. Here are my samples- you be the judge. I think the grainy look will give some edge to a horror film. Either way hope this helps you guys.

http://www.holditnow.com/wireworkz
 
Yes! I was thinking the same thing... several multi-million dollar horror flicks have used extremely grainy filmstock to give a creepy "feel" to the images... to mimic the texture of the 70's horror classics. I plan to have several shadowy scenes in my psychological thriller, and favor the grittier look.

Did you light it brighter and then bring it down a bit in post, as has been suggested in several threads?
Thanks!
 
Lookin great to me. I've said the same thing many times about noise not being an issue, yet the paranoia continues.

I'd love to see your finished film. Looks twisted good. ;)
 
R Gale said:
Yes! I was thinking the same thing... several multi-million dollar horror flicks have used extremely grainy filmstock to give a creepy "feel" to the images... to mimic the texture of the 70's horror classics. I plan to have several shadowy scenes in my psychological thriller, and favor the grittier look.

Did you light it brighter and then bring it down a bit in post, as has been suggested in several threads?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes I lit bright and brought it down in post. One example shows both ways one shot at low light and the other shot bright and brought down to look like the low light version.

Reduces much of the noise.
 
I'd say all of the closeup stuff looks really good, and that's largely due to the fact that you are shooting against a wall of bricks with lots of texture that's going to cover up the noise really well. Where you will tend to see the artifacting most is in areas of solid color and/or shadows. Since your only solid areas are the walls (which do exhibit noise) and the shadows (which you brought down in post), you should be okay. You can really see those blockies rearing their ugly head on the window in the third to last picture. Be careful about shooting outdoors as well (which is standard in most horror films)... unless you're making your entire scene BLACK, the subtle changes of dark spots outside will wreak havoc on your footage.
 
holyzoo said:
Lookin great to me. I've said the same thing many times about noise not being an issue, yet the paranoia continues.

I'd love to see your finished film. Looks twisted good. ;)
Click to expand...

I think for features and people going for a certain look the camera works great. I does get frustrating sometimes when you push beyond the latitude of what it can handle and I can see how it could become something to dwell on. Fortunately there are work arounds if you get into trouble. Like I said before the camera certainly makes you think about your lighting and not take it for granted.

I for one am willing to accept what the camera can and can't do as it's works for my purposes. I'm not going to worry about what the camera can't do and just enjoy what it can do. Making indie low budget movies makes you think like that I guess. Also I have the luxury of being my own client.

Also it should be noted for those using the Dell 24" monitor. At full screen (when viewing through the camera directly via componant) the image is scaled up to something like 145% from the native 720p so that might make stuff look a bit wanky. I know when I view it at 100% it looks much better over all.
 
holditnowfilms said:
Also it should be noted for those using the Dell 24" monitor. At full screen (when viewing through the camera directly via componant) the image is scaled up to something like 145% from the native 720p so that might make stuff look a bit wanky. I know when I view it at 100% it looks much better over all.
Click to expand...
Just a tip: you can change the output of the camera in the display menu to be 1080 at all times so that the footage is going directly to the monitor at 1080 (even when you're recording in 720) so the monitor isn't uprezzing anything.
 
Haakon said:
I'd say all of the closeup stuff looks really good, and that's largely due to the fact that you are shooting against a wall of bricks with lots of texture that's going to cover up the noise really well. Where you will tend to see the artifacting most is in areas of solid color and/or shadows. Since your only solid areas are the walls (which do exhibit noise) and the shadows (which you brought down in post), you should be okay. You can really see those blockies rearing their ugly head on the window in the third to last picture. Be careful about shooting outdoors as well (which is standard in most horror films)... unless you're making your entire scene BLACK, the subtle changes of dark spots outside will wreak havoc on your footage.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's why I include those last pictures. I know the large flat areas are going to be a problem. I have to say though the "still" really make it look worse. Even so I am going to try to production design around flat areas. Also we are going to avoid white walls entirely if at all possible. I hope a shallow depth of field will also help. Will use mottled lighting on the flat wall areas with cookies to exercise the demons of flat color with any luck.

I need to shoot some night time exteriors next to see how that looks. We are mostly in the city so I hope city scape will help keep background issues to a minimum.

My daytime ext. stuff looks good you just need lots of fill i noticed. I can't afford HMI's so I will be haulling around mirrors I guess. :(

If all else fails-- Dude it's a stylized look for the film don't you know?
 
Haakon said:
Just a tip: you can change the output of the camera in the display menu to be 1080 at all times so that the footage is going directly to the monitor at 1080 (even when you're recording in 720) so the monitor isn't uprezzing anything.
Click to expand...

Wow I didn't think about that. I will check it out and see how it looks. Does the fact the monitor is 1920x1200 cause any distortions. What is the native 1080 size? "1080 x ?"
 
holditnowfilms said:
What is the native 1080 size? "1080 x ?"
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The native size of the 2405 is 1920x1200 (16:10). However, if you view 1920x1080 footage on it, it doesn't do any upscaling or anything, it just letterboxes it a little on the top and the bottom. I think there's an option in the monitor to stretch it so that it fills the whole thing, but that would be a stupid thing to do. Keep the camera outputting at 1080 no matter what and you'll get the best picture from it on that monitor.

holditnowfilms said:
If all else fails-- Dude it's a stylized look for the film don't you know?
Click to expand...
Yep, I'm sure most people won't care. I guess it just saddens me to see a lot of people - especially on a website catering to people who want to make movies - just accepting a mediocre offering as the only option and not really giving two shrugs about it. For me, the picture doesn't cut it. But I've more than said my peace at this point... people can make their own decisions and the world will continue turning.

The moderators are deleting posts I've made now, in an attempt to curb the threads in the direction they see fit. It's their board, so they can do whatever they want, but if they are going to start manipulating discussions when valid points are being brought up, I'm not going to bother to waste my time.

If you have any other questions about the monitor or settings with the HVX, feel free to send me an email (my PM box is essentially full anyway)... otherwise I'll be busy looking up things to do in Vegas while I'm at NAB looking for my next camera. Ciao.
 
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Yep, I'm sure most people won't care. I guess it just saddens me to see a lot of people - especially on a website catering to people who want to make movies - just accepting a mediocre offering as the only option and not really giving two shrugs about it. For me, the picture doesn't cut it. But I've more than said my peace at this point... people can make their own decisions and the world will continue turning.

The moderators are deleting posts I've made now, in an attempt to curb the threads in the direction they see fit. It's their board, so they can do whatever they want, but if they are going to start manipulating discussions when valid points are being brought up, I'm not going to bother to waste my time.
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The only one I deleted is the one that said 'Too bad it is not true'
That was pure flame :violent5: (You know that.)

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You said your peace right ? Why continue the crusade ? People seem happy about this camera as far as I can see. It isn't right for everyone and that is true of all the cameras (DVX, XL2, XL1, JVC) is it not ?

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No one manipulates discussions on these boards so to alleviate your paranoia and conspiracy theories please refrain from insulting the board and/or it's moderators.

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It is obvious you are not happy with this camera; why don't you move on ? This is like me hanging out at the Canon forum and moaning about the XL2 all day.

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I predict some nice work coming with the HVX.
 
Haakon said:
The native size of the 2405 is 1920x1200 (16:10). However, if you view 1920x1080 footage on it, it doesn't do any upscaling or anything, it just letterboxes it a little on the top and the bottom. I think there's an option in the monitor to stretch it so that it fills the whole thing, but that would be a stupid thing to do. Keep the camera outputting at 1080 no matter what and you'll get the best picture from it on that monitor.


Yep, I'm sure most people won't care. I guess it just saddens me to see a lot of people - especially on a website catering to people who want to make movies - just accepting a mediocre offering as the only option and not really giving two shrugs about it. For me, the picture doesn't cut it. But I've more than said my peace at this point... people can make their own decisions and the world will continue turning.

In the meantime, I will be busy looking up things to do in Vegas while I'm at NAB looking for my next camera. Ciao.
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Hey don't be sad. It's just what happens at this level of film making. I have another feature in the pipeline going to be shot on 35mm because the producers don't think video looks as good as film. That's a fine thing and all but now the budget is way high. They can afford it so good on them.

I wanted something to shoot while that film is in development. I could have shot on the DVX but I was wanting more rez for broadcast sales or if luck has it a film out. I went for the HVX. I was suspicous all along about how good the image would be because I knew Panny would not release a varicam killer at this point. It's not that we don't care but when you buy a low end camera mediocre is par for the course. But mediocre in context only when compared to cameras 5 to 10 times the cost I should add. Just like 16 vs. 35mm on the film side.

Is it good enough? Yeah. Could it be better? Certainly. Will Panny do anything? LOL.


I learned a long time ago not to trust the "MAN" and Panasonic is certainly the "MAN" and the "MAN" ain't giving you nuthin for free. You want Varicam quality? Pay me! Just like Good Fellas and when it's all over they burn the place down and offer an "A" model.
 
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thanks for the disturbing image warning..... I can't stand it when a hot chick get's barb wired. brings back the memory of wrong turn with the redhead. damn... either way your images look good.
 
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